ELIZABETHVILLE – While the scoreboard may have said 46-13 in favor of Tri-Valley, both teams claimed a bit of a victory in their Tri-Valley League matchup at Trojan Stadium Sept. 9.
For Upper Dauphin, the game marked the first points of the season for them, coming in the second half with Tri-Valley already leading 40-0.
“We definitely made some progress tonight,” said UDA head coach Brent Bell following the game. “We drove the ball in the first half, but couldn’t get it in. We changed some things up this week, but some injuries late in the week caused us to shuffle some things again but once we have a full solid week of practice, these guys are going to come out and continue to fight this year.”
Tri-Valley struck early and often in the game. After holding Upper Dauphin to a three-and-out series in the opening possession, the Bulldogs used good field position to start at their own 45-yard line. Quarterback Logan Yoder used his passing ability along with the rushing of Danny Scheib to put together a six play, 55-yard drive, highlighted by a 32-yard reception by Ashton Buchanan and capped off with Scheib’s eight-yard run to put the Bulldogs up 7-0 with 8:01 left in the first quarter.

Upper Dauphin gained a bit of momentum, putting together a 10-play drive that resulted in two first downs, but then stalled at the Bulldog 49. The Tri-Valley defense came back and blocked the Trojan punt, giving Tri-Valley the ball on, again, its own 45-yard line.
The next Bulldog drive carried over into the second quarter and resulted in another Tri-Valley touchdown. This time, it was Yoder driving it in from one yard out, putting the score at 14-0.
After the two teams went three-and-out twice, The Dawgs defense came out again, forcing an Upper Dauphin fumble that gave Tri-Valley the ball on the Upper Dauphin 46. Once again, an Ashton Buchanan reception put the Dawgs in the “red zone” with Ike Lucas putting Tri-Valley up 20-0 with a two-yard run.
In the second half, Tri-Valley continued their dominance. Getting the ball to start the half, the Bulldogs put together an eight-play 63-yard drive, capped off by a two-yard run into the end zone by Dawson Schwalm, raising the score to 27-0 with 10:05 in the third quarter.
Upper Dauphin again fumbled the opening play of its drive, allowing Yoder to again find Buchanan for the reception. This time, however, Buchanan found his way into the end zone, making the score 33-0.
After Upper Dauphin punted, the Bulldogs put the mercy rule in effect, scoring in three plays with Ike Lucas putting the final nail in the coffin with a 77-yard run down the sidelines. After the point-after, Tri-Valley led 40-0 and kept the clock running.
With nothing to lose, Upper Dauphin began to stir, starting from their own 48-yard line. Seven plays later, Upper Dauphin was knocking on the door with a 4th-and-2 situation on the Tri-Valley 5. The Trojans jumped for a false start penalty and it turned into a 4th-and-7 on the Bulldog 10.
That wouldn’t deter the Trojans as quarterback Zach Rupp found Mason Weist in the end zone with a pass, putting the score at 40-7.
Tri-Valley would answer back with Dawson Schwalm, who needed two plays to go 74 yards to put the score 46-7.
Upper Dauphin got the last score of the game with another reception with Rupp connecting with Jake Ramberger for a 44-yard touchdown. The clock expired, leaving the score at 46-13.
“I give them a lot of credit, they didn’t quit. Upper Dauphin is scrappy,” said Tri-Valley coach Mike Ulicny. We needed a good game like we had today because we have some big games coming up.”
Tri-Valley (2-1) has its biggest test of the season when it entertains the 3-0 Juniata Indians at Bulldogs Stadium on Sept. 16. Upper Dauphin (0-3) will meet the winless Millersburg Indians in an away game on the same day.
Tri-Valley — 7 13 26 0 — 46
Upper Dauphin — 0 0 7 6 — 13
First Quarter
TV — Danny Scheib 8-yard run (Colby Harner kick)
Second Quarter
TV — Logan Yoder 1-yard run (Jon Stiely kick)
TV — Ike Lucas 3-yard run (kick failed)
Third Quarter
TV — Dawson Schwalm 2-yard run (Harner kick)
TV — Ashton Buchanan 36-yard pass from Yoder (kick failed)
TV — Lucas 77-yard run (Harner kick)
UD — Mason Wiest 9-yard pass from Zach Rupp (Trevor Mace kick)
TV — Schwalm 39-yard run (kick failed)
Fourth Quarter
UD — Jake Ramberger 40-yard pass from Rupp (no attempt)
Team stats
FIRST DOWNS: Tri-Valley 14, Upper Dauphin 21
RUSHES-YARDS: Tri-Valley 32-321, Upper Dauphin 30-88
PASSES: Tri-Valley 5-10-0 115 yards, Upper Dauphin 9-25-0 156 yards
TOTAL YARDS: Tri-Valley 436, Upper Dauphin 244.
PENALTIES: Tri-Valley 4-40, Upper Dauphin 5-37
Individual stats
RUSHING: Tri-Valley — Schwalm 11-137, Lucas 6-118, Scheib 12-65, McGrath 1-1, Yoder 1-1, Leedy 1-(-1). Upper Dauphin — Wiest 7-42, Gelnett 8-24, Rupp 8-15, Ayers 2-9, Ramberter 3-2. Team 2-(-4).
PASSING: Tri-Valley — Yoder 5-9-0, 115, Leedy 0-1-0, 0; Upper Dauphin 9-25-0, 156.
RECEIVING: Tri-Valley — Buchanan 3-104, Lucas 1-16, Scheib 1-(-5). Upper Dauphin — Ramberger 4-82, Wiest 3-53, Cope 1-13, Reed 1-8.
INTERCEPTIONS: None